International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $220.73.

Several research analysts have recently commented on IBM shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $208.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $205.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of International Business Machines stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total value of $774,720.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,390 shares in the company, valued at $5,463,928. This trade represents a 12.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Business Machines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IBM. Ellenbecker Investment Group boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 2,049 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network raised its stake in International Business Machines by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 3,123 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $687,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC raised its stake in International Business Machines by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC raised its stake in International Business Machines by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forza Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,153 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,891,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

International Business Machines Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE IBM opened at $224.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $224.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.06. International Business Machines has a one year low of $162.62 and a one year high of $239.35. The firm has a market cap of $207.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.71, a PEG ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.74.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.03. International Business Machines had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 40.52%. The business had revenue of $14.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that International Business Machines will post 10.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 97.23%.

About International Business Machines

International Business Machines Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated solutions and services worldwide. The company operates through Software, Consulting, Infrastructure, and Financing segments. The Software segment offers a hybrid cloud and AI platforms that allows clients to realize their digital and AI transformations across the applications, data, and environments in which they operate.